deux

finale

(b.y.)
today was eddy's last performance with the sydney symphony orchestra, and brett wanted the day to be over as soon as possible. he needed the incredibly frustrating, distracting, attractive eddy chen to get out of his life.

but first, he had a morning shift at the coffee shop to get through.

he woke up early, getting ready for the day at a slower pace than usual. he tried to ignore the empty feeling that travelled throughout his body, but with little success. he wouldn't admit to it, but he missed eddy. a lot.

after a long bus ride across town, brett opened up the coffeeshop for the day.

the morning rush of customers was particularly difficult for him to get through as the exhaustion he felt when he woke up was still taking a toll on his body.

it was nearly 11am now, and the coffee shop was close to empty. just like it was when he first met eddy. the memory of that day was fresh in brett's mind, as if it had just happened yesterday. thinking of their first encounter only increased the pain in brett's chest, and he tried to shake the thought away.

brett was standing behind the counter, trying—and failing—to keep his mind off of eddy when a bell rang across the room. the door opened to reveal just the man he was thinking of. eddy was here.

in a frenzy, brett rushed to the back kitchen before eddy could spot him. he soon found another employee, a teenage boy typing away on his phone.

"go work the front counter," brett told the young boy, grasping onto his shoulders, "and if anyone asks if i'm here, tell them i'm not in today."

the boy just nodded in response, running out of the kitchen to follow brett's orders.

brett let out a sigh of relief. that was close. there was no way he could face eddy right now. he would just lure brett in with another one of his kind smiles or sweet kisses—brett didn't want to fall for that trap again.

he slumped down in a chair, watching the clock as time ticked by, counting down the seconds until the final concert.

-

(e.c.)
eddy woke up in the morning even more sad than he had been the night before. he still was clueless as to why brett was ignoring him, and couldn't help but think that it was all his fault. maybe he waited too long to ask brett out, and brett had moved on? or maybe brett decided that he didn't like eddy anymore? the questions made eddy's heart hurt, and he couldn't bear the thought of having to be ignored by brett for yet another concert.

he could barely drag himself out of bed, and even when he did, he struggled to get dressed. in an attempt to motivate himself, he pulled out his violin for some impromptu practice, but that somehow just made himself feel worse.

he then realized that he needed to talk to brett as soon as possible. he needed to make sure he was okay, and that he wasn't mad at eddy. minutes later, he bounded out the door of his hotel room and set his mind on walking to the coffee shop. he didn't even know if brett would be there today, but it was worth a shot.

eddy finally arrived at the coffee shop and peered through the glass storefront, immediately recognizing brett standing behind the counter. brett looked just as unkempt as eddy did, his hair messy, clothes wrinkled, moving slowly as he wiped down the counter.

eddy took a deep breath and opened the door to the café.

he could do this.

but, as he did, he noticed brett run into the back from his spot at the counter, moving so quickly he barely even saw him.